Council and democracy

School Ofsted Inspections

Oftsed has recently undergone a dramatic change. As of the 1st April 2007 the full title is now the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills.

The new Ofsted is responsible for:

• The registration and inspection of childcare
• The registration and inspection of arrangements for the social care and support of children and young people
• The inspection of all maintained schools and some independent schools
• The inspection of further education, adult education and teacher training
• The inspection of the children and family court advisory and support service (cafcass)

School inspections

At present, Ofsted inspects every school in the country approximately once every three years. The school is usually given about two days notice of when this will take place and which contractor will be running the inspection. However, if Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI) is concerned about the safety or well being of pupils in a school, HMCI will exercise the right to inspect a school without notice.

An inspection will not last more than two days and the team inspecting the school will be made up of between one and five inspectors depending on the size of the school. The inspectors will consider many different aspects of the school before inspecting it. These include the school’s previous inspection report, its performance results and also the school’s own self evaluation report.

What happens during an inspection

During an inspection, the inspectors will sit in on lessons and examine the way lessons are planned. They will also talk to the teachers and the students and ask them how they feel about various aspects of the school.

Schools are required to notify parents of an inspection. They also have to notify parents about how they can have their say. If parents do want to contribute, their comments are passed directly on to the inspectors. Parents can also speak to inspectors during the inspection if they wish to.
At the end of the inspection a report is produced that comments on the school’s overall effectiveness, achievements, standards and the quality of:

• the teaching and learning
• the way it delivers the curriculum and other activities
• the care, guidance and support it gives
• the leadership and management

To find details of Hertfordshire's state schools' Ofsted reports follow the link on this page to Ofsted reports for Hertfordshire.

More details of how inspections take place is available on the Ofsted website, simply follow the link on the right of the page.